Delivery-vehicle.



C. L. TALBOT. DELIVERY VEHICLE. l A APPLICATION FILED was. |915.

"1,206,1 69. Patented Non-28, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C.L.TALBOT.

nELuveav vEHlcLE APPLICATION FILEDv ^UG.9. 19|5. Patented Nov. 28,'1916.

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C. L. TALBOT.

. DELIVERY VEHICLE.. APPLICATION man Aue.9. 1915.

1,206,169. A Patented N0v.'28,1916.

4; SHEETS-SHElEY 4.

:L zog HIL Jia/en@ ,falling from the con'veyer.

thereof I mount a stationz'irv. apertured channel bar 2f), with itslflanges il() and 3l presented inwardly, and on which travel rollers 32secured at intervals to the` convehver and projectii'ig laterallytherefrom. To prevent the translvairted articles from cach of thechannel bars has fastened toit a bent. sheetmetal guard 3l projecting` asubstantial dis tance above the top surface of the. conveyer adjacent toits edge. This conveyer or carrier ma)v be operated either from the rearof the vehicle'i as, for example. when articles are being placedthereon. or, from the front of the automobile, when they are beingremoved therefrom. To pei-init' this actioIn-the rear shaft 26 has fixedthereto at each side an accessible hand-wheel P35. the turning of eitherone of' which causes the aetuation of the carrier. The front shaft 26has mounted thereon a sprocket wheel 3G, ctbactinggI with a chain 3Tencircling.)l a sirocket wheel Pin on a jacloshat't 39. revolluble inbearings lo. lo, on the back of' the chauffeurs seat +1. such shaft 3hbeing` operatively connected by sprocket wheels l2 and l?) and a chain.lf-l. to an operating handwheel h5 at one side of the seat 4l.Obviously. b v turning' the handle 4V. the conveyer may be made totravel and transport its' lading.l in either directioln 4 The conveyerproper ma)l be of any suitable structure. .auch as slats connectingtogethc' a pair of yeprocket chains. or slats or strips hint-taldirectly to one another. 'hile l have indicated two end shafts forsupporting and operating the carrier. it will he understood that anapl'n'opriate number of internaaliate shafts with suitable bearings maybe also employed` if desired. A\bo\'e the convevcr 274.71m cach of theVer tical raclt bars| 2H (six in the present instance). there issliillnp'ljvv mounted a block ell' provided with a pair of apertured.spaced arms- 4H. affording' bearings fora transverse shaftn three of thelatter. lil. 5U and 5l, beingl used in the present device. Each of suchshafts hasl revolablv mounted thereon, atl one end. a sleeve .32 carr\'ing. a gear accomunalated between thevv arms 4.8 and in mesh with theteeth ot' the corre'spondint.;` rack bar 2*. liach of the members ll'.at one side of' the vehicle. also has a projet-filipr bearing` .3i-l.such, three alinedor registering bearingsA receiving a long j'itinlinall\v disposed shaft 5l. equipped at- .each end with a squared part 55 forthe tenn'iorar)- accommodation of the turning handle. Shaft 54: hassecured thereto three bevel gears 5G. each in mesh with a similar rear5T on the end of one of the Sleeves of the cross-shafts.

It should be clear from this illustration and Adescription that the twoparallel end less convevers 5S and :39 mounted upon such cross-shaftscan, by merelv turning Shaft sizes' and shapesI of' the packages.

three cross-shafts. lit. :30 and hsupport may receive packages ofvarious Sizes and I without conflict with one another, the maximum,capacity of the vehicle being ma1ntained at all times with due regardto the These pairsloiI angle bars (it). (il. (32 and 53, with theflanges of each pair extended toward one another, as shown in *lach ofthe endless convevers 5S and 59 is carried on sprocket wheels (il and G5fixed on shaft 45). 50 or 5l. as the case may be, the front or rearshafts extending outwardlyv between the angle barsand being suppliedwith a turning hand-wheel (5T-.1, These carriers are also provided withrollers GS traveling` on the. upper and lower flanges respectivelhvv ot'the corresponding angle bars. To the latter pacloige-retaining,sheet-metal guides T0 are lsecured. liv turning the hand wheel nl' ofeither the front or rear shaft. either of the companion carriers ma)v beactuated in either direction. Above carriers 5S and 59 there is anotherpair of conveyers 7l and T2, in structure and mode of operation like theunderlying' carriers and. if desired, one of these. may be provided withone or more small hammocks for the safe 'transportation ot' fragilearticles. The carriers 7l and T2 are adjustably mounted on the rackharsahead) described and are capable of adjustment in the manner lset forthin .connection with the lower carriers 5S and 59. As is usual invehiclesl of this general character, the back of the same ma)v be closedby doors TIE. capable of being` locked for the safe keepinfa' of thegoods on the. convevers. t

Beneath the ioor of the vehicle and at its rear portion a depending`cold storage conipartmcnt Tl is providedj having a rear.

hinged door T5. which ma)v be closed and locked. This: chamber containsan ice pan TG, above which are two endless, apertnred carrier-sii. 77a.on sprocket wheels TS, on shafts T9 and SO, each of the latterprojecting' through a side wall of the compartment and having itsextended end supplied with a handle Sl. Sla, by which 'the conveyer ma)vbe operated. To prevent the unantl'io'rized manipulation of the'carrierwhen the compartment is closed. thevdoor T5 has mounted thereon a pairof lugs '82 (Fig. G), posi-- tioned to tit between teeth of a pair ofsprocket wheels; in the closed position of the dooi; therebyY lockino"the convevers against actuation. Two conveyers are used in"thiscompartment, so that one may be employed Jr'or the deliver)v of goodstherefrom. while the other is used for the reception of goods receivedduring' such delivery; that is to say` the mail-carrier. when theappliance i-i-used ages from the one conveyer in the compartment, andreceiving. Jfrom those living along the route articles requiringrefrigeration,

which are placed on the other conveyer.'l As y wlll be readilyunderstood, th'e carriers 24,

58, 59, 71 and 72 are intended to receive minor parcels of varyingsizes, and the conveyers or movable holders 77 77@l are adapted tosimilarly accommodate perishable goods subjected to the cooling actionof the ice in tra y 76. The vehicle is also intended to facilitate thehandling of let- 4ters and magazines, and to these the structure I willnow refer.'

By ref rence to Fig. 2, it will be noticed that th upper portion of thevehicle body is wider than its' lower part and these two side,overhanging sections are utilized for the housing of the superposedletter and magazine endless carriers. -On each side of the vehicle7 justinside its side wall,'one continuous magazine carrier 83 is employed,above which four superposed letter conveyers 8l, 85, 86 and 87, aremounted. much as the constructions at the two sides of the-vehicle arealike, it, will sufiice to describe only one of them. At the side of theautomobile there are two upright posts 88 and 89, each of which, nearits lower end, has fastened thereto, by a set screw 90, an arm 91,equipped with a vertical bearing 92, and having itsupturned end 93bifurcated at 91 for the reception of a deflector or guide 95, pivotedto the arm at 96 at one side of its center, its longer portion having anupstanding lug 97 on its upper face. As is clearly illustrated, the arm91 of the front post 88 projects forwardly, the corresponding arm of theback post 89 extending rearwardly. The front bearing 92 accommodates ashort, vertical shaft 98 carrying: an upper horizontal sprocket wheel 99and another sprocket wheel 100 below the bearing.l Similarly the rearbearing 92 has a short shaft 101 equipped lwith a sprocket wheel. 102,coact'in'g with which and the companion wheel 99 a magazine-carriersprocket chain 103. That is to say, the chain is provided with aplurality of sheet-metal, vertically disposed receptacles 101, `open attheir tops at 105 and apertured or Aprovided withwindows 100 in theirfront faces torthe display of the addresses of the magazines therein. Atsuitable intervals, the chain 103 has specially formed links 107 (Fig.10),-each accommodating a roller 108 mounted in its *lowerportion andeach also having integral or rigid therewitha vertical. cylindrical rodor shaft 109, which has pinned 'to it a collar 110 provided on its upperface with two tapered lugs 111. spaced 180C apart. Eachv of thereceptacles or holders 101y has a, bearing member 112 secured to itsrear face, srch member accommodating the rod 109 and beparts V4offInas-Y ing provided on Iits lower edge with two ta- 'pered or V-shaped`cavities 113, 180ov apart,

and adapted to receive the lugs 111. Interposed'between the top of thebearing member 11,12 and a collar 114 held to the rod 109 by a cotterpin 115 is a spring 116, which, as will be readily understood,yieldingly holds the bearing 112 down on the member 110, permittingturning of the rod, however, in thebearing when required. The rollers108 travel on suitably supported angle bar tracks 117, preventingsagging of the chains and the holders carried thereby. At its up-` perpart, each holder has fastened thereto a 'f block 118, acting as abearing for the up 4per .portionof the rod 109, and the top part of therod hasa block 119 fixed thereto, ca rrying two concave-faced rollers120, 120, which travel on opposite sides of the horizontally disposed,cylindrical bars or rods 121.' On itslower Jface, each of these boxes ormagazine holders 104 is supplied with a cam lug'122, adapted tocoperate, as explained below, with the levers 95, as the-box reaches theends of its path of travel, so as to control the operation of the stopsor guides 97. Sprocket wheel 100, at' the front of the vehicle, by meansof a cooperating sprocket chain 123 is operatively connected to acompanion sprocket wheel 121 mounted on a bracket 125 at the side of theseat 4:1 and equipped with a turning handle 126. The rear sprocket wheel101 is provided withl a hand-wheel 127. Obviously, by turningeither ofthe handles 126'01 127, the conveyer may be operated from either thefront or the rear of the vehicle to render the magazine holderssuccessively accessible.

It .will be observed from the drawings that' these magazine ornewspaper" holders always face inwardly of the vehicle, even thoughattached to and operated by an endless chain. Stated somewhatdiiferently, the magazine or newspaper boxes or receptacles do not turnaround as they reach the end of their travel, but always maintain the'same general disposition, that is .to say, they alplished' by themechanism described, which operates substantially as follows: When anysol one of the boxesor holders 101i' approaches the end of its travel,its cam-lug 122 engages the end of lever 95, rocking such lever so as tobring the stop 97 into the path of travel .of the'box as it passesaround the sprocket wheel, in this way preventing the box fromV turningaround. But, of course, since the rod 109 of thechain turns as it passesaround the sprocket wheel and the cam-catch 110 turns with it, the boxwill be raised slightly by the action of the parts 111 and 113, and

when the rod has turned 18,0 relatively to the box, the latter willagainl settle into normal position" with the teeth 111 in the 86 and 87.As is clearly shown in Fig. 2,

' boxes at the ends oi' their travel are'temporarily held from rotation,While that portion of the chain to which they are attached passes aroundthe sprocket wheel. This action is clearly illustrated in Fig. 8. On'the posts or rods 88 and 89, above these magazine or newspaper carriers,there are posii tioned, a plurality of letter carriers or conveyers,four on each side, designated 84, 85, in each overhanging portion of thevehicle body there is mounted one magazine or newspaper carrier andabovethis the four superposed Aletter carriers, or conveyers. These latterreceptacles are much like the magazine holders, except that they do nothave the Wheels 120, the rod 121 or the top bearing 11S, the rods 131(Fig. 9) of their chains being somewhat shorter. Otherwise the mountingand operation of these latter boxes or receptacles is the same as thatfory the magazine carriers. Each of these letter receptacles 132 is ofsheet-metal and is provided With a display Window 133. Internally eachof these boxes accommodates a .plate 134 pressed toward the Window by a'bow spring 135. As is indicated-1n Fig. 9,

the top edge portions of the box and the v plate 134 are iared ordiverged, and the letter, postal card, o r the like, is intended to bereceived between the windowed wall .and the plate 13st, thus beingsecurely held 1n position with its address displayed through the window.As is shown in perspective in Fig. 11, the front face 'of each of theseletter holdersA or boxes is equipped with a plurality of rockable fiagsor signals 136, 137,138, 1.39, 140 and 141. Each of these is mounted onits ovvn individual shaft 1:12, having a handlev 143,'the shaft beingrockinglyy accommodated in the bearing of a suitably shaped bar or strap144.

Assuming that this novel formv and construction o vehicle is being usedin rural delivery service, when the vehicle is being loaded the signalsof the letter boxes or reeeptacles are manipulated so as to indicateupon which convevers the. addressee of theletter in that particular boxhas other artil. cles to be delivered.- For example, let us assume thatJohn'Doe has a letter, a magazine,

,a 'box'and a pound of butter to be delivered l' to him. Then, Whenthese articles are placed in the vehicle, the signals on the letter boxwill be turned so as to show that there is a magazine' in the magazineconveyer, a parcel onthe middle of the three carriers in the centralportion of the vehicle, and some form of package in thejcold storagecompartment.

l"to the conveyer on which that parcel has Of course, if there isaletter only to be delivered, none of these signals Will be operated, andif, in addition to the letter, there is only one parcel, the signalcorresponding 7 been deposited will be turned to indicate its o presencein the vehicle. For the satisfactory handling of4 long articles, suchasumbrellas, canes'andthe like, I provide on the under face of the roof anet 1&5 (Fig. 2), which 75 has its edges securely fastened to the roofin any approved manner.

It has been indicated above that the vehicle has a chauffeurs seat 41,and opposite this I provide another seat 146 (Fig. 3), with a foldingback 147, which may be turned doivn and employed as a table,facilitating' the handling of the articles being ydelivered or received.In case it is desired to Wallfoii the chauffeur, who .possibly might 35not be an employee of the postal department, I provide two meshscreensliS and 149, one between the seats and one back of the seat 41.'.llhesc screens are adapted to be rolled up upon and u nrolled fromrollers 150 and 151 Aat the top ot' .the truck, andwvhen drawn 'in orderto facilitate their distribution, I

provide on either or both `sides of the vehicle, l'i/etween the wheelsand below the over-hanging portion of the body, compartments 154, withdoors and apertures 155', these chambers being intended for mailpouches, into which the letters are dropped 11o through the apertures.By providing a number of theseA pouches and having the compartmentssuitably marked, as indicated, for example, in Fig. 1, the mail thusreceived will bevdistributed and ready for shipment as soon as theincoming vehicle reaches the post-oliice or railway station.

In ordinary operation, the vmail-man will deposit the various letters,magazines, papers and packages inor on the various carriers or conveversfrom the rear of the vehicle, advancing these progressively by means oftheir various operating handles described. These articles will, ofcourse, be placed on the conveyers in thev order of delivery on theroute. Then, in delivering these various articles, preferably from thefront of the vvehicle and While occupying one of the two seatsvl theoperator advances these various conveyers or carriers as their con'- 130los tents are' gradually unloaded', so that on each carrier the nextarticle to be delivered vwill always be in front andfvvithin easy reachof either of .the tivo seats. Of'course, if preferred, thearticles maybe delivered from the rear of the vehicle and placed on conveyers tromthe front, andin some instances it will be preferable to reserve someofthe conveyers for the reception of articles received during thedelivery of the others.

That is to say, those persons living on the ruraldelivery route may mailtheir letters-i or parcel post packages by giving them to the postman,Who would place them upon the proper carriers.- For example, theconveyer 58 might be advanced forwardly during the delivery of 'itscontents, While. the conveyer 59 might be gradually moved rear- -Wardlyas it receives its'various packages.

Thedetails of this construction are not esv sential and many migxormechanical changes may be made in th structure without departing fromthe substance and essence of the invention and Without the sacrifice ofany of its substantial benefits and advantages..

It may be found preferable toconstruct the conveyer 24 of perforatedmetal for holding the 4heavier articles transported rand to make theother conveyers, 58, 59, T1 and '72, ofvv lighter material, such ascanvas, for

holding articles of less weight. .In any case,

it isl desirablefor the `coiiveyers in the re-l f rigerated compartmentto be apertured or perforated to facilitate the passage of air currents.

lI-claim:

1.' In a` structure of the character described, the combination of avehicle, a plurality of superposed endless conveyers longitndinallydisposed in the central portion 2. In a structure vof the character defscribed, the "combination of a vehicle, a plu- ,rality of superposedconveyers longitudi# nally disposed in the central portion of thevehicle'body, a plurality of endless super- Copies of thisniatent may beobtained for posed conveyers arranged longitudinally of,

inside of, and adjacent the side-Wall ot the vvehicle body and equippedwith a plurality of vertically-arranged holders, means to operate saidconveyers, and means to maintain said holders facing always inwardly ofthe vehicle, saidcentral conveyers being adapted to accommodate heavierand bulkier articles .than the holders ot said side conveyers,substantially as described. 3. In a, structure of the characterdescribed, the combination of a vehicle, a plurality of conveyerstherein, means adapted to operate said conveyers to advance the articlesthereon, and means on one ot said conveyers adapted to indicate thecontents of one or more of the others, substantially as described.

4. In a structure ot the character described, the combination ot' avehicle, a compartment on said vehicle, a conveyer insaid compartment,means to operate said conveyer from the outside ot the vehicle, a doo-rfor said compartment, and-means controlled by the door to lock andunlock the conveyer, substantially as described.

5. In a structure of the character described, the combination of avehicle, a compartment on said vehicle. means associated with saidcompartment adapted to. contain a refrigerating element, a conveyer insaid compartment, means to operate said con' veyer from the outside ofsaid compartment. a door for said compartment, and 'means controlled bythe door to lock and unlock the conveyer, substantially as de scribed.A

6. In a structure of the character described, the combination ofavehicle body having an over-'hanging side portion, a plurality ofsuperposed conveyers in said overvhanging portion, an equipment outsideof said body below said over-hanging portion for the accommodation ofone or more sacks for the reception of articles, substantially asdescribed.-

7. In a structure of the character described, the combination of avehicle, a plurality ofjconveyers in said vehicle, means to operate saidconveyers. and a pair of seats at the front of the vehicle, one of saidseats having a folding back which, when turned down, constitutes atable, substantially as described.

CHARLES L. TALBOT.

. 1Witness:

WALTER Mt FULLER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. CJ.

